Brassiere construction



1954 H. ROTH 2,691,166

BBASSIERE CONSTRUCTION iled Nov. 14. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR IHarold 205% A'ITORNEY Oct. 12, 1954 ROTH 2,691,166

BRASSIERE CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 14, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mfazTQ-Eawmwa 37 INVENTOR Patented Oct. 12, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2,691,166 BRASSIERE CONSTRUCTION Harold Roth, New York, N. Y.

Application November 14, 1952, Serial No. 320,425

5 Claims. '1

The present invention relates to a brassiere construction and itparticularly relates to a brassiere construction which may be eitherused as such or as part of a brassiere slip.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide aself-supporting brassire construction particularly of the type which maybe used in connection with a strapless brassiere or a straplessbrassiere slip and which will comfortably conform to the wearer and atthe same time give the necessary support to the body without causing anydiscomfort.

Another object is to provide a novel strapless brassiere constructionwhich will have both vertical and lateral supporting structures andwhich will retain its position upon the body of the wearer withoutcollapsing or slipping and without tendency toward flattening andwithout undue wrinkling.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detaileddescription set forth below, it being understood, however, that thismore detailed description is given by way of illustration andexplanation only and not by way of lamination, since various changestherein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactory,according to one embodiment of the present invention, to form a breastcup of separate upper and lower portions and preferably of a speciallaminated construction with the multi-layer laminated construction beingjoined along a seam extending from the outer sides of the breast cupacross and down to the lower edge of the breast cup.

In the preferred construction extending along the sides of the breastcup are two vertical reenforcing wire or plastic bones or stiffeningmembers which extend from the top to the bottom of the brassiere. Thefront bones preferably are faced somewhat outside of the middle centralseam of the brassiere and both the vertical bones or reenforcementsshould extend substantially across the sides of the breast cup insidethe outside edges thereof and should tend to diverge downwardly forminga closest ap proach adjacent the top of the brassiere cup.

In a preferred construction the breast cup is formed of one group ofmultiply elements which extend across the top and inside the face of thebreast cup adjacent the front central portion of the brassiere. Thelower outside and bottom portion of the breast cup should be providedwith a central set of laminated structures.

Although the laminations may consist of 2, 3 or 4 layers of fabric, withdifferent numbers of laminations being provided in the upper and lowerbreast cup portions, it has been found most satisfactory to providethree pieces of superimposed felt which are seamed and reenforced with astiffening wire or bone along said seam.

In the preferred construction one seam extends inwardly toward thecenter of the breast cup toward the sides of the breast cup passingslightly above and to the inside of the center point of the breast cupand then this seaming reenforcement passes downwardly to the bottom ofthe breast cup substantially inside of the central edge of the breastcup.

Although various types of laminated fabrics or structures may beemployed it has been found most satisfactory to use as the insideelement a piece of felt with a cellulose acetate knitted tricotlamination to the inside piece of felt. Desirably this laminated facecovering by the acetate tricot is in contact with the body and it isdesirably provided with a plurality of closely spaced perforations topermit ready passage of air.

The two outside pieces of felt both have the upper and lower portions ofthe laminated breast cup construction and are desirably of anonperforated felt, which are stitched together along the centralreenforcing line of the junction and also along the side edges of thebreast cups.

It is a particular feature of the present invention that the sidevertical reenforcing bones or wires are provided with inside channelsformed of facing fabric while the transverse reenforcing member whichextends across the side and central portion of the breast cup have afront channel pocket member.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists ofthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts ashereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention,but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modificationscan be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereuntoappended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote correspondingparts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of one form of the brassiereaccording to the present invention showing the breast cup construction.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view upon the line 22 of Fig.1 upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse horizontal sectional view upon the line 33 ofFig. 1 upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view upon the line 4-4 ofFig. 1 and upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 1 showing thechannel member receiving the reenforcing stiffening bone or wire.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view with the bone: partly exposed and thecovering channel partly removed to show the manner of construction ofthe breast cup of Figs. 1 to 3.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but upon a somewhat smaller scalethan Fig. 5 showingthe breast cup of Fig. 5 after it has been completedbutbeforeattachment to'thev other portions of the garment.

Fig. 7 is a horizontaltransverse sectional view upon the line l-l' ofFig. 5..

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view upon the line 3-8 of Fig.5.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary vertical. transverse sectional view upon theline 99 of Fig. 5 and upon an enlargedscale as compared to Fig. 5.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown a brassire garment with the breastcups A, the central separating elastic sections B, the side elasticsections C, and the rear lateral fabric sections D.

Under the. breast cup there are shown the sections E which extend downto the waistline F of the garment. The garment as shown is provided withthe central reenforcing vertical bone or wire elements G and thelateralor side reenforcing elements H;

The garment is also provided with the central or right angularreenforcing elements J which extend between the upper breast cupsections K and the lower breast cup sections L.

Referring to Fig. 1 the garment as shown has the woven fabric sectionsE1 and D. The sections E, which are below the breast cups A, are outupon the bias as indicated by the arrows Ill, while the lateral wovensections as indicated at H are cut so that thewarp and filling willextend vertically.

An elastic band I2 extends across the-top of the garment the upper edgeof which has a decorative finishing rufiie 13. This elastic edging l2extends-across theentireupper periphery of the garment and completelyaround the body.

The sidesof the sections E and D are attached by the double seaming at Mand to theone way lateral stretch elastic section C, the stretch ofwhich is indicated at It. This elastic fabric C has its warp and fillingextending vertically and horizontally as indicated at. IT.

The inside edges of the woven fabric E are attached by the doubleseaming. l8 and the channels G to the two elastic sections B. Thesenarrow elastic sections are sewn together along the central seam I9 andtheir stretch is primarily along an oblique bias as indicated by thebias lines in Fig. l.

The weave of the elastic sections B is indicated by the double arrow 2|.The entire lower portion of the garment is finished by an in-- turnedseam or finish which may form. part of the waistline of a brassiere slipor the terminal lower edge of a brassire. The brassiere is attached inback desirably by a double row of hook fasteners with suitable flaps soas to protect the skin of the wearer from the connections or fastenings.If desired, however, a side slide fasten ing may also be employed.

The invention is particularly directed to the construction of the breastcup which as best shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 is a three plyconstruction with each of the three plies forming the sections K and Land being joined along the right angular junction line J.

As indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 the inside sections and 36, consisting offelt with an inner facing of acetate tricot laminated thereto, aredesirably perforated although unperforated material may also beemployed. The intermediate upper and lower sections 31 and 38respectively are desirably of. felt which is not covered by acetatetricot and which is not perforated.

The. outside felt elements 39 and 40 are also desirably not laminatedwith acetate tricot and also not perforated.

The structure of these felt pieces are best shown in Fig. 5. In theupper section the three felt elements 35, 3'! and 39 are joined togetherby stitching along their inside edge 4| and their right angular junctionedge 42. However, the felt pieces 31 and 39 terminate at 43 short of theupper edge 44 of the inside piece 35 adjacent the top of the breast cup,and desirably the intermediate section 3'! terminates at 45 and 46slightly inside of the edges 41 and 58- 0f the inside and outsidesections 35and 39 (see Fig. 5).

The lower sections L are provided with conforming inside and outsidportions 36 and 40 as is best shown in Fig. 5.

However, the intermediate portions 38 terminates at substantially spacedfrom the edges 5E of theportions or layers 36 and 40. These sections asindicated are desirably stitched together at 5'! along the junction lineJ.

After the upper sections K and the lower sectionsL have been separatelyassembled they are stitched together and assembled with the rightangular reenforcing structure and connection J. This is best shown inFigs. 5, 6 and 9.

The channel J extends on the exterior or the outside portion of thebreast cup as contrasted to the channels G and H illustrated in largesection in Fig. 4, which extendon the inside of the breast cup.

Referring to Fig. 9 there is shown the three plies 35, 3! and 3.9 of theupperv breast cup element K and the three plies 36, 38 and 40 of thelower breast cup element L. These elements have been previously stitchedtogether by the stitching 42 and 51. They are now joined together bymeans of the box stitching 58. At the same time by the stitching 59there is attached to them the reenforcing bone 60 with the inner channelmember BI and the outer channel member 62.

The inner channel member 6| is desirably a cotton braid which willprotect the bone, wire or plastic elements cutting into the garment orbreaking out of the channel J.

The outer channel cover 62 consisting of an interlining cotton fabricdesirably extends across the outside of the braid 3| as well as insideand under the bone 60. This channel structure together with the bone 60are desirably attached along and on top of the scam in junction line 63by a single sewing operation (see Fig. 9).

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 6 that this channel J extends fromthe point 64 on the side of the breast cup to the point 65 at the'bottomof the breast cup. However, the right angular bent wire or bone 60desirably terminates at 66 short of the end of the pocket at 64 and alsoat 61 short of the bottom of the breast cup at 65. The edges 68 whichare turned inwardly of the outer cotton interlining should extend underthe side edges of the bones 60.

By this construction a breast cup is formed as indicated at Fig. 6before attachment to the garment which already is form sustaining andwhich will not normally collapse and which does not require any rubberpadding or reenforcement to give it the desired permanent shape.

Desirably the box stitching 58 to attach the edges of the breast cupelements K and L together is formed of the zigzag stitching whereas thestitching at 42, 51 and 59 is straight stitching.

The bone 60 is desirably of either a flat lastic strip or metal whichhas been coated with plastic for protective purposes.

Desirably the channel J consisting of the bone 60 and the strip BI and62 is attached in the manner as indicated in Fig. 5 from the side edge64 to the bottom edge 65 of the breast cup.

It will be noted that the side vertical bone reenforcements G and Hdiverge from the top of the brassiere to the waist of the brassiere.They also are sewn together with the attachment of the fabric sectionsB, C and E together in the manner described in connection with Figs. 5,6, 7, 8 and 9, except that in this case the channel is usually joinedinside of the structure.

As shown in Fig. 4 the bone is covered by the cotton braid 16 and theouter cotton innerlining 11 to form a channel upon the inside of thegarment as indicated by the arrow 18 (see Fig. 4).

This channel structure H, which is the same as G, is mounted directlyupon the junction upon the elastic section C and the upper triple breastsection K having the outer face 39, the central face 31 and the insideface 35 joined together by stitching at 41. This channel is held down bythe straight stitch 19.

The particular feature of the present invention resides in the two sidevertical reenforcing bone structures G and H on the inside of thegarment and along the side edges but inside the breast cup divergingdownwardly in combination with a right angular reenforoement extendinglaterally across the outside portion and then vertically downwardlyacross the inside edge of the breast cup.

This structure is particularly unusual in providing a brassi ere as wellas vertical side reenforcement of a breast cup in a strapless brassieregarment, and also in providing a triple layer of felt preferably treatedwith a water repellant material or to give it water repellancy.

Another feature of the construction is that the inner felt layer isfaced with acetate tricot and also perforated and that each junction ofthe three layer construction is provided with reenforcing bone channelsG, H and J as shown best in Fig. 1.

Instead of varying thicknesses of felt 35, 36, 31, 3'8, 39 and 40 one ormore of these felt layers may be replaced by thin sheets of foam rubberor by conjunction sheets of foam rubber and felt.

The breast cups as shown may be used not only in brassieres and slipsbut also in bathing suits and even for some outer garments such asdresses, sportswear, sunback garments and two piece garments.

The invention as shown has its most particular application to all in onefoundation garments but it may also be used for combination girdles andbrassieres, corsets and brassieres and the like.

Where the brassiere portion of the garment be comes an integral part ofthe garment, or where the brassiere section is added inside of thegarment as an independent element and the outer section of the garmentfits over the brassire, it has been found that a most desirable fit andform of the garment is achieved.

As many changes could be made in the above brassiere construction, andmany widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of theinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what isclaimed is:

1. A multi-ply brassiere having separated breast cups each composed oftwo fabric sections having different bias, one section forming the topand inside portions of the breast cup and the other section forming thelower outside portion of the breast cup and a seam joining saidsections, said seam extending horizontally across the outer portion ofthe breast cup and curving inwardly and downwardly to the lower edge ofthe breast cup and a stiifening member attached to and extending alongsaid seam.

2. The brassire of claim 1, said seam being provided with a channelmember having a stiffening reinforcing fabric within the channel andsaid channel carrying said stiffening member.

3. The brassiere of claim 1, said breast cups being separated by twonarrow downwardly converging sections of fabric extending the fullheight of the brassiere and having an oblique bias.

4. The brassiere of claim 1, the bias of the one section extending in acurve parallel to the seam and the bias of the other cup sectionextending horizontally.

5. A brassiere having separate breast cups, each breast cup having anupper breast cup woven section and a lower breast cup woven section,said woven sections being stitched together along a seam extendinglaterally and downwardly in a curved line from the outside edge of thebreast cup and across the middle of the breast cup down to the loweredge of the breast cup and a stiffening element positioned along andattached to the breast cup at said seam and also extending in a curvedline from the outside edge across the middle and down to the lower edgeof the breast cup.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS:

Number Name Date 2,484,219 Glick Oct. 11, 1949 2,512,215 Rosenthal eta1. June 20, 1950 2,535,864 Plehn Dec. 26, 1950 2,553,036 ChristensenMay 15, 1951 2,578,175 Cuozzi Dec. 11, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 997,408 France Sept. 12, 1951

